Crossing into Bolivia through Lake Titicaca - May 14th

Today, we were to cross into Bolivia from Peru. We had a tour of Lake Titicaca on the way. Our guide Juan and driver Victor met us at 7:20 AM as scheduled. That morning, we saw the lake view from our hotel room, and it was not bad at all.

Lake view from the room

The tour would have 2 operators - One for Peru till the border, and then one for Bolivia. First the ride from our hotel to the border would be around 1.5 hours. The journey was scenic with some rustic villages on the way. There were also some good views of the lake Titicaca on the way. Lake Titicaca is supposed to be the world's highest navigable lake. It is also considered very spiritual by the locals. Its elevation at 4000m is similar to Lake Manasarovar. Some pictures of the villages en route below.

scenic villages en route

These structures were toilers built by govt

The border crossing was a low key affair and done very smoothly. I exchanged some dollars for Bolivianos. Then first a immigration stamp at Peru. Then after having bid good-bye to our guide/driver, we crossed the border. The border does have a arch, but not very glamorous.
At Bolivia, we were welcomed by our guide Jorge. He was new to the job, and just had around 2 months guiding experience.

The border arch



Bolivian immigration building

Our guide Jorge

This was a group tour. There were 5 people and 3 guides. One old couple had a guide, we had a guide Jorge, and a Swiss travel agent had one guide. The Swiss guy has a travel agency in Switzerland and is partnering with local Bolivian tour operators. He had personally come to check some of the hotels/trips in Bolivia, and decide if he should use that for his clients.

Our first stop was Copacabana. This was a little town on the banks of Lake Titicaca. Its most famous landmark is the "St Mary's cathedral" built by of course the Spanish.

St Mary's cathedral in Copacabana

Next we took the Hydrofoil at the port. This hydrofoil (a fast boat) would take us on a tour of Lake Titicaca, including visits to Sun and Moon islands [Isla de Sol and Isla de Luna]. The hydrofoil is the latest boat on the lake. The lake was very calm with no wind, so the hydrofoil ride was very smooth and fast.

At Isla de Sol, we were served lunch at "Uma Kollu" restaurant. This restaurant is owned by the same tour agency running the hydrofoil. So our guide was able to tell the chef to cook veggie food for us. The chef was a traditional Bolivian woman, so the food cooked tasted very good. We were given "quinoa soup", "pasta" and fresh oranges. The lunch setting was also very relaxing and scenic.

the hydrofoil

Lunch at Isla de Sol

snowy peaks looming over Lake Titicaca

After Isla de Sol, the hydrofoil took us to Isla de Luna. This island had some old ruins, and these ruins were actually quite good. It was a small walk to the ruins, after we which the boat started towards Huatajata. This is the embarking point from the boat. Our co-travelers had plans to stay at Huatajata. Our guide Jorge accompanied us till La Paz on a car.

Ruins at Isla de Luna

The drive to La Paz from Huatajata was actually quite scenic, passing through quaint villages, and some snowy peaks. We reached La Paz around 6:20 PM and checked-in to our hotel, Hotel Osira.

Some small villages en route to La Paz

After checkin, we ran to restaurant Namaste, which was around 5 mins walk. This restaurant serves veggie food, and closes by 7 PM. So we hurried to make sure we don't miss dinner. We ordered some brinjal and soup. The food was quite good.

Then we came back to the hotel and slept off. Our guide (Ben) for the next day's city tour called us when we were asleep and informed us that we will be having a city tour at 1:40 PM the next day. He said there were lots of protests in Bolivia [which is common] and its better to have tour in the afternoon.